Law enforcement response and gunfire exchange

An off-duty federal law enforcement agent killed the shooter.

Law enforcement and security personnel exchanged gunfire with the shooter and apprehended him at the scene. The shooter died from injuries sustained during the gunfire.

The shooter was killed while exchanging gunfire with law enforcement.

Similarly, at Harris Teeter #332 in Crozet, Virginia, the shooter opened fire in the parking lot but was killed by an off-duty federal agent.

At the Grand Sierra Resort in Nevada, a shooter was apprehended after exchanging gunfire with law enforcement but died three days later from injuries.

In another incident, an off-duty law enforcement officer shopping at Harris Teeter confronted the shooter, killing him at the scene.

The shooter then attempted to enter the facility and exchanged gunfire with responding officers before he was killed at the scene.

During the attack, the shooter used multiple firearms and exchanged gunfire with responding law enforcement.

At the Shoshone County Sheriff’s Office (SCSO) in Idaho, an attacker shot civilians outside the SCSO building, then entered and fired at law enforcement officers inside the station. After a standoff, the shooter exchanged gunfire with responding officers and was killed at the scene.

At the Border Patrol Annex and SCSO, law enforcement killed the shooters during an exchange of gunfire.

Law enforcement response time varied in this category. At Antioch High School, an on-site SRO responded immediately and at FSU, campus police responded within one minute.

Incidents relying on dispatched officers, like Brown University and Evergreen High School, averaged a three-minute and 10-second response time.

Law enforcement estimated that from the first shot fired to incident resolution, the Annunciation church attack lasted approximately two minutes, whereas the incident at The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints lasted three minutes and 43 seconds.

The average law enforcement response, from dispatch to arrival on scene was two minutes and 59 seconds, with the shortest being one minute and 58 seconds at The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

At Grand Sierra Resort, security personnel engaged the shooter and exchanged gunfire as the shooter fled through the parking area. Following an additional exchange of gunfire with responding officers, the attacker was shot, apprehended, and died from his injuries three days later.

In active shooter situations, law enforcement officers bear the responsibility of neutralizing the threat to keep the public safe.

Of the 34 incidents, officers intervened in 13 attacks while the shooter was still targeting victims, and in five of those attacks, law enforcement exchanged gunfire with the shooter.

All 13 incidents were resolved by law enforcement killing or apprehending the shooter on scene, or the shooter dying by suicide after officers intervened.

In the remaining 21 incidents, the attack ended prior to law enforcement’s arrival because the shooter was stopped by security or civilians, fled the scene, or died by suicide.

In 2025, law enforcement exchanged gunfire in five active shooter incidents that took place in government (3), open space (1), and commerce (1) location categories.

These exchanges resulted in three law enforcement injures and in every incident, at least two officers engaged the shooter.

In the Border Patrol Annex, Grand Sierra Resort, and SCSO incidents, officers killed the shooters during the exchange.

Throughout 2025, law enforcement officers directly ended 13 attacks while shooters actively targeted innocent victims.

These attacks occurred across various locations and involved multiple types of weapons, highlighting the complexity and challenges officers face while responding to these dangerous threats.

In several attacks, officers exchanged gunfire with the shooters to protect the public, sacrificing their own lives and safety in the process.

Killed by LE at the scene Suicide at the scene after LE arrived 2 3

Shooters killed by law enforcement (five)

LE Gunfire Exchange w/ Shooter | 5 | 6 | 12 | 9 | 17

Shooters Killed by LE | 5 | 5 | 12 | 7 | 14

This stacked bar chart shows the proportion of incidents where law enforcement was involved in an exchange of gunfire compared to those without an exchange from 2021 through 2025.

This bar chart compares the number of incidents in which law enforcement exchanged gunfire with a shooter to the number of law enforcement casualties resulting from the exchange of gunfire from 2021 through 2025.

From 2021 to 2025, law enforcement exchanged gunfire with the shooter in 49 of the 217 incidents (23%).

Overall, these exchanges declined from 28% in 2021 to 15% in 2025.

This bar chart shows how active shooter incidents involving an exchange of gunfire with law enforcement were resolved each year from 2021 through 2025, with counts for shooters apprehended, killed, or who died by suicide.

As a result of gunfire exchange with law enforcement, 63% of shooters (31) were killed, 27% were apprehended (13), and 10% died by suicide (five).